The Thirteen Day Limit
by Sunleech
Summary: AU: Cannon divergence. After the discovery of the death note and the end of the Yotsuba Kira, L makes a decision that completely ruins all of Light's plans. What's more, L is so completely convinced that Light is guilty, he decides to more or less torture Light over the course of 13 days.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: AU: Cannon divergence. After the discovery of the death note and the end of the Yotsuba Kira, L makes a decision that completely ruins all of Light's plans. What's more, L is so completely convinced that Light is guilty, he decides to more or less torture Light over the course of 13 days.

The Thirteen Day Limit

Chapter One: 1ST night

"I do not think it is wise to release Misa Amane at this time," L announced to the task force. Everyone looked up from where they had been gathered around the newly discovered death note. L was sitting in his chair, still facing the wall of monitors.

"W-what?" Matsuda was the first to respond. "We know Higuchi was Kira, and even if he was not one of the original two Kira's… the rule in the notebook prove she couldn't be guilty!" As usual he spoke with too much energy and conviction. Light had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes at the young detective.

L spun around in his chair, an action that would almost be dramatic if not for his ridiculous perch and the lollipop dangling out of his mouth.

Light glanced around at the other members of the task force, and that told him all he needed to know about their current opinions. Everyone agreed with Matsuda, but none spoke up to defend the junior detective. With a quick, quiet sigh, Light decided to bit the bullet and say something.

"He's right, Ryuzaki. By the rules of that thing," he motioned to the notebook on the table, "she cannot be Kira, either of them." Light scanned the room; the task force seemed relieved that Light had spoken up for them. L, however continued to look unimpressed.

"Yes, but, I think remaining in custody would benefit Miss Amane," L muttered around his candy.

This took Light a little off guard. Misa's safety? How did that play into L's decision? He was expecting an obvious challenge of the 13 day rule, thus L still being suspicious of Misa and Light. L figuring out, or at least suspecting that there was a fake rule added to the death note was a best case scenario- even if L voiced suspicion of the rule it would be highly likely that he would still be pressured into releasing Misa. Light's plan to take out L hinged on Misa getting free, that and Rem's possessive behaviour. Light glanced over at the god of death. She was standing quietly in front of the monitors, apparently half watching the going ons of the task force while still stealing glances at Misa in the monitors.

"How would being under surveillance help her?" Light asked, flatly.

"While it does not seem that Misa is currently the second Kira, or even has knowledge of being the second Kira, I believe should we release her, the original Kira will make contact," L explained. He glanced to the monitors where Misa could be seen draped over her sofa, scribbling in a bright pink notebook that no one could mistake as a death note.

"I merely think it would benefit Misa's safety should she remain where she is," L continued. He popped the lollipop out of his mouth and dropped it on the desk.

"I am not sure there are moral grounds, let alone the legal grounds that allow for this," Soichiro said.

"The chief is right," Mastuda added, "given the rules in the note book, Misa has to be innocent."

"Hmm, innocent?" L mumbled, seemly to himself. He glanced again at Misa, who was clearly not writing any more, but drawing large hearts in the notebook.

"Look, Ryuzaki, I appreciate your drive to catch Kira, but everything you've done so far has been extremely questionable," Light said, keeping his tone even. L glanced back over to Light.

"As I said before, this would be more for Miss Amane's benefit than anything else," L said, "If she is the second Kira, than the first Kira will without a doubt attempt to make contact. This first Kira, the original, is the more dominate one, the more dangerous one. I simply fear for Misa's safety."

The room was silent at this explanation. Light cursed to himself. Without Misa getting free and getting the hidden death note, his plan would hit a serious road block. Light glared at the detective, he wanted to push the issue, maybe argue Misa free, but several months of living chained to L had taught Light that the strange man was every bit as stubborn as he was. Besides, if he pushed the matter too far L would likely turn around and call out some bullshit percentage of him being Kira. No, Light had to play this cool. Let L win this one. If Light was anything he was adaptable, he'd come up with another plan, all he needed to do was wait.

"You would need to get Misa to agree with this," Light said, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Yeah, I mean, if you get her to agree to the protection I think it will be fine," Mastuda added. The rest of the task force seemed to agree with that.

"Oh, I am sure Light would have no problem convincing her," L said, a tiny smile pulling at his lips. Like somehow he knew exactly how much Light's plan depended on the exact opposite of this proposal.

Light grimaced. "Well, it wouldn't be easy to get her to agree to this, and you can't blame her, being under surveillance for an unknown amount of time, especially after everything that has happened."

L seemed to perk up in his chair and his eyes widened, somehow. He looked like Christmas had come early, or Light had just made a full confession to being Kira. It was such an off putting look that Light had to revaluate everything he had just said to make sure he hadn't just confessed.

"Ah, but it would be an undetermined length of time. It would only be for thirteen days," L explained, eyes glued to Light as he spoke.

"Thirteen days? Why thirteen?" Mastuda questioned. L gave the man a 'how can you be this stupid' look, before returning his focus to Light.

"Thirteen days because you are testing the rule," Light said, matter of fact. Internally, however, the teen was glowering and imagining L choking on that damned lollipop. That bastard! Not only was he questioning the rule, which Light had expected, even planed for, but L was implying that he had already started testing.

"Yes, very perceptive Light," L said, and he reached over blindly and smacked at a few keys on his computer, pulling up what looked like a live video feed. There was a man, obviously a prisoner, sitting at a desk, a single piece of paper in front of him.

"This man has been sentence to death thirteen days from now, and at exactly 9pm, he is going to write another convict's name on that piece of the death note."

"Just a piece? Will that even work?" Soichiro questioned.

"Not sure," L said, "but I figured this was the best way to test two theories at once. We will know in…" L glanced down at the bottom where the time was displayed. "About ten minutes."

Light was careful, as always, to keep his expression even, but that was becoming harder and harder every time L opened his month. He hadn't expected the detective to arrange an execution test of the note so fast. It had only been a few days since Higuchi was killed and the death note was discovered. L was sneaky. This was not good. In thirteen days, everything would be over. L would know the rule was fake, and Light and Misa would go right back to being Kira suspects one and two. He had to think of something. The original plan of Misa resuming the killings, thus drawing L's suspicion and forcing Rem's hand was quickly falling apart.

Or was it. Light glanced over at the shinigami in question. She was loitering by L's wall of computers.

"So, in thirteen days, if this prisoner is still alive we know two things," Light said, "The rule is fake and a piece of the death note is just as deadly as the whole notebook."

L nodded, chewing on his thumb.

"And as soon as that happens, Misa and I both become suspects again." Light finished. A few of the task force members opened their months to defend Light, but L was quick to shut them down.

"Yes, with a probability of nearly 80%" L said.

"So with that high of a probability, what will happen to Misa and me?" As Light said Misa's name, his gaze drifted over to Rem, who seemed suddenly more interested in the conversation. "Life in prison? Execution?" Light offered, looking not at L but the shinigami. The creature's yellow eyes seemed to widen, following what Light was saying.

"Well," L said around his thumb, "yes, one of the above. But…" he trailed off as he glanced back to the screens. He leaned over and tapped at a few keys, closing the footage of the convict and replacing it with the feed from Misa's room. "I think I would be willing to offer leniency to Miss Amane. In this scenario she is guilty of being the second Kira, the subservient Kira. It could be argued she did what she did under the influence of another." L pointedly looked at Light.

"And in this scenario that person was me," Light filled in.

"Of course. Besides, I get the feeling that this shinigami here," he gestured over to Rem, "harbours some sort of protective feeling for Miss Amane. It should be happy with an arrangement such as house arrest, rather than life in prison or execution." L looked up at Rem.

Light couldn't hide his surprise at his statement. How the hell did L know that? This was just getting worse by the minute. Dammit! L was going to ruin everything. He knew the detective was good but this was just spooky. Thankfully Light's shocked reaction was not noticed- it fit in perfectly with the reactions of the other members of the task force.

"Feelings? How did you come to that conclusion?" Aizawa questioned. He was looking at Rem with a mixture of disgust and confusion. "Can…are these creatures even capable of that?"

"I am not sure, I am just basing this on my observations of the shinigami. It has barely stopped watching Misa on the screens. I may be stretching things a bit, as I am unfamiliar with the intricacies of shinigami behaviour," L said with the smallest shrug of his shoulders, as if what he was suggesting was one of the most obvious things in the world.

Rem was silent, but Light noticed a change in her posture and face. It was subtle, but he could tell at that moment any hope of using Rem to kill L was out of the picture.

Goddammit. Goddamn L and his goddamn observations. Light could feel his control of the situation slipping away. There was next to nothing he could do. Damn L, it was like he had complete knowledge of Lights plan, he was tearing it apart so completely.

"I assume you agree with this scenario, shinigami?" L looked directly at Rem, abet a little hesitantly, "Misa, being as she was obviously under the control of, or otherwise influenced by the original Kira, would be spared a harsh punishment."

Rem nodded slowly, and L smiled.

"Of course, this deal is completely dependent on my involvement in the case. Should anything happen to me I doubt anyone else would offer such a nice deal for Misa," L added, almost as an afterthought.

Light felt his stomach drop. He was done for. No, he refused to give in that easily. This was a setback, granted a very, very big and incontinent and frustrating setback, but Light could get around this. He had to get around this. He would just have to regroup and come up with another plan. L had won this battle, but Light had no doubt who would be victorious in the end. Still, he glared at the detective who was still chewing on his fingers like an infant. L was going to pay for this. A heart attack would be far to kind of a death for L. At this point in time Light was seriously considering strangling the dark haired man child himself.

L spun his chair back around to face the computer. In a second Misa was again replaced by the image of the convict. The time read 8:59pm.

The task force watched at the man was given a pencil and a small bit of paper, probably a photograph of the man he was going to kill. The convict wrote the name, and a few minutes later L received a message.

"It worked. The other inmate died," L said quietly.

"Now we just have to wait," Light said.

Later that night Light was settling down for bed, as he had done for the past several months, in the company of L. Of course if Misa wasn't being released, than Light wasn't free either. He had managed to argue the handcuffs away, but decided not to push things too far. L informed him he was to be watched at all times, still, by L, the task force, or cameras. Light had agreed; anything to prove his innocence and catch Kira, of course.

Still, Light wished he had just a little bit of privacy to figure out a way out of this mess. He wanted at least, his own room, but L has shot that idea down. Though, at least without the handcuffs, Light was free to push his bed further away from L's.

The room Light and L shared was a mess, something Light tried not to let bother him too much. He kept his own areas as tidy as he could, yet somehow a wrinkled white shirt, or dirty tea cup complete with thick sugary slug covering the bottom always managed to sneak on to his side of the room. Light was convinced that the man did it on purpose. Now, as Light was curled up in his bed, he couldn't help but glare at the lollipop that was stuck what looked at a case folder that somehow made it to his nightstand.

The lights were still on, and Light could hear L shuffling around the room. It was well past two in the morning, and while Light had long ago gotten used to the detective's insomniac behaviours, tonight it was especially annoying. Something about his plans being completely destroyed probably had a lot to do with it.

Light rolled over and glanced over at L's empty bed. The detective was standing beside it, holding his laptop by the screen. The detective clambered into the bed, sitting with his back against the headboard and settling the laptop in his knees.

Light rolled back over. He needed to think to plan, to revaluate the situation. There had to be a way out of this, there always was.

"Hey, Light," L called. Light was silent, feigning sleep.

"Light?" the voice called again. Light screwed his eyes shut and didn't respond.

There was a moment of silence and Light figured the detective had bought his act. He relaxed.

"You're not asleep," Light heard L say.

"Well I'm not now," Light grumbled.

"You never were. You forget, I have observed you for the past several months. I can tell when you are asleep. You have a distinct breathing pattern," L continued. Light was fighting the urge to throw his pillow at the man.

"Are you saying that you watch me sleep, Ryuzaki?" Light said, but stayed curled up and facing the other direction. He wasn't going to give L the satisfaction of seeing the look on his face. Which was something between annoyance and disgust.

"Of course. You are interesting, Light. And if you turn out to be Kira, every bit of information about you could be vital," L said. Light heard the creak of L moving on his bed.

"You are a freak sometimes, did you know that?" Light muttered, "I am going to sleep now. Goodnight, Ryuzaki."

There was silence, and Light considered it a victory. He used to quiet to begin the formation of another plan. The pieces appeared in his mind. There was L, Light, Misa, and the task force as the main players, as well as the shinigami, though the death gods were a bit of a wild card. Light frowned; using Rem against L had been the best case scenario, but that completely out of the question now.

Light's thoughts drifted to Ryuk. The god of death had made his non-inference policy quiet clear from the beginning of this, so that was out of the question. Light was starting to become discouraged. He switched his thoughts to his current assets. What did he have going for him at the moment…

"Hey, Light," L's voice crashed into his thoughts and Light let out an audible groan.

After a moment when Light didn't respond, L spoke up again. "Light, I know you aren't asleep. I told you, I can tell. Are you having trouble sleeping?"

"Yes, actually, I am," Light said, rolling over and glaring at the detective.

"Is something bothering you?" L asked. He was still perched on his bed, his laptop balancing on his knees. He was still dressed in his day clothes, though, Light had only seen him change into sleep clothes a handful of times during their time handcuffed together.

"You," Light said, unable to hide the annoyance from his voice, not like he needed to, the way L was behaving would get on any normal person's nerves.

"Me?" L asked in that stupid childish way that just served to grate on Light's nerves.

"Yes, you. Ryuzaki, I am trying to sleep," Light snapped.

"But you aren't asleep," L started, but Light cut in.

"Because you keep calling my name."

"I wanted to ask you a question," L said. Light sat up in his bed, still glaring across the room at L.

"What? What do you want? What could you possibly need at," Light picked up his watch from the nightstand to check the time, "at nearly 3 in the morning."

"I don't see what the time has to do with anything," L said defensively, "but I just wanted to ask you if you would get the lights? I am rather comfortable already."

Light stared for several seconds, not quite believing what the detective was saying.

"For the past three months you argued with me about the lights, something about how you work better with them on," Light growled. "Suddenly you want them turned off, and you can't get up and do it yourself?"

"You're closer," L said with a shrug. "Besides, with everything that happened today, I figured you would need a good night's sleep- and you do sleep better with the lights off, right? That was the argument you always made."

Light tossed his blankets aside, got up, and stomped over to the switch and hit it, plunging the small room into darkness, well, aside from the blue glow of L's laptop.

"There. Goodnight, Ryuzaki," Light said, crawling back into his bed. He was genuinely tired now. So much for planning time. He would need to get at least a few hours of sleep if he was going to be able to be a functional member of the task force. He rolled away from L, pulling the blanket over his head. He closed his eyes, indeed enjoying the darkness of the room, and let his thoughts drift.

"Hey, Light," This time L's voice really did jar him awake. He opened his eyes, glaring at the darkness of the room. He had no idea how long he had been asleep.

"What, Ryuzaki," Light mumbled, "what is it now?"

"Oh, nothing, I was just thinking about the case. Did I wake you up?"

"You know you did," Light said, turning over in his bed. "What about the case?"

"The fake rules, mostly. I am trying to figure out what rules could be fake and what purpose they would serve. The fake 13 day rule serves a clear purpose, but what if the destruction rule is fake as well, or one of the others?"

"If the 13 day rule is fake," Light said, sitting up. He was tired, but figured it was worth amusing L on this matter. Maybe the detective would say something that would give Light the advantage he so desperately needed.

"Yes, if," L said quietly. Light studied the detective's expression in the eerie light of the laptop.

"If you are so worried, set up another test to figure out which ones are fake," Light suggested.

"No, that would waste time. I want to study this note book, but we know there must be at least one more out there, and I fear we don't have that kind of time." L said with a sigh.

"Well, you already tested the 13 day rule, and that seems the most important," Light said.

"Hmm, it is the most important, but I must admit selfish reasons for narrowing in on that rule," L said, looking over at Light. The teen shivered at the intensity of the gaze, only made creepier by the artificial light of the laptop bathing the detective's face.

"A lot of the things you do are selfish," Light shot back. "But please, explain why testing the 13 day rule was selfish."

"You, Light. Your proclaimed innocence hinges almost entirely on the validity of the 13 day rule." L's gaze never left Light's face as he spoke. The man didn't even so much as blink. In fact there was a sort self-satisfied grin on L's face.

"Your obsession with me is beyond unhealthy, Ryuzaki," Light said. He lay back down, but didn't turn away or cover his head.

"Much of what I do is considered unhealthy by normal standards," L replied with a small shrug. He finally broke eye contact with Light, and looked back to his laptop screen.

"I feel sorry for you," Light said softly, after a moment. L looked over at him curiously, head tilted to the side.

"You are going to be absolutely devastated when I am finally cleared of being Kira," Light said, and rolled back over. "Goodnight, Ryuzaki."

L was silent for a long while, and Light slipped back to sleep with a small grin on his lips. Light was just about completely asleep when he swore he hear L whisper, "We'll see, Light." The teen was too tired, and too close to sleep to comment.

Light's sleep was short lived. L physically shook him awake what felt like a few minutes later, declaring it was morning and thus time to get up and get ready for work. Bleary, Light groped for his watch and groaned when he found it was barely even 5:30 in the morning. L was insistent, though, and Light dragged himself from his bed and got ready for what was inevitably going to be a very, very long day.


	2. Chapter 2

Really short Authors Note:

To address a question, will this story be LxLight? Not overtly. This story is mostly about L being a sadistic brat, but I can't deny the potential for an underlying strange sort of attraction. So yeah, no overt shipping of the LxLight variety; but feel free to read subtext as you wish!

In this chapter: L is a sadistic brat.

Chapter 2: Night Two, Day Three.

The day had in fact, turned out to be a very long and annoying one for Light. He was dead tired; having only manages a few hours of fragmented sleep the night before. Still, he couldn't let that get to him. He could operate fairly well on minimal sleep. He had been an over achieving student, staying up late into the night to study and get ahead on homework. And that was before the death note; punishing criminals added several more hours to his day meaning he rarely went to sleep before 2:30 in the morning, and would wake up four hours later to get ready for school. Sure, Light was tired, but he could function. He yawned a bit more, and found himself daydreaming, mostly about his bed, and strangling a certain dark haired detective, but other than that, he was able to get through the day without incident.

L seemed to show no effect from the sleepless night. Light could only assume that the man had gotten even less sleep than Light had, but L was completely normal, well, normal for L, which today meant spinning idly in his chair while reviewing hours of recordings from the Yostuba meetings, and slowly eating what looked to be his weight in some sort of cream filled pastry. Not as though Light was surprised, either by L's invulnerability to being tired, or the man stuffing himself with pastries. These were things he had come to expect when it came to L.

Despite what many would consider several breakthroughs in the case, unveiling Higuchi as the Yostuba Kira, uncovering the death note, implementing a test on said death note, L was not content to slow down the pace of the investigation. He insisted the Yostuba matter needed to be studied further- he was looking for some obvious connection between Yostuba and the original two Kira's. Despite knowing the futility of such a search, Light readily joined L in his hunt for a connection. The only connection, of course, was Rem, and though her demeanour had changed since L announced his intent to spare Misa, the shinigami was not being particularly helpful to the case. She mostly floated around, watching over Misa. Occasionally Light caught the shinigami glaring at him. It really just made him miss Ryuk, in a strange way. For all his faults, as least Ryuk was never judgmental.

The task force trickled out slowly, with Light's father leaving last, wishing the two of them a goodnight. L waved awkwardly in response, not taking his eyes from the computer monitor.

That had been nearly five hours ago. Light had managed most of the day, but as it got later and later, and L showed no intention of letting up and heading to bed, Light began to get irritable.

"It is past 2am," Light said, standing up and stretching. His job today had been to trace all financial records relating to Yostuba and all of its subsidiaries and employees to try and find something suspicious. So far he had managed to uncover over forty affairs, about seventeen cases of blackmail, twenty gambling problems, and a disturbingly large number of individuals with a very unhealthy obsession with bizarre internet pornography, but, of course, nothing that pointed to the original Kiras. He had finished typing up a summary saying just that over two hours ago.

"I am aware of what time it is," L said, not looking up from the computer. He was still engrossed in the Yostuba tapes. He had head phones on, large bulky over the ear kind, but they were off kilter, leaving one ear exposed. L said it was because he didn't like being cut off from his surroundings.

"Well, I am going to bed. It is late, and normal people need to sleep," Light said. He took a few steps away from the desk and out of habit stood waiting for L. After so many months tethered to the man, Light was finding his freedom of movement awkward, but definitely enjoyable. Though while he wasn't physically tired to L, the man had made a point to follow him around, or when he couldn't be bothered, order a member of the task force to do the same.

Light had pointed out that there were better things for Mastuda to be doing, other than following him to the bathroom. L had simply replied that the fact was highly debateable.

Now, as the two of them were more or less alone, Light was curious how much freedom he could get away with. After several seconds of waiting behind L, who was very much ignoring him, Light shrugged and headed towards their bedroom.

"Where are you going?" L called, just as Light turned down the hall, and thus was out of sight.

"I told you, to bed. I am tired," Light replied, but didn't stop walking.

"I am not ready for bed, Light. Come back," L called again.

"No, Ryuzaki, I am going to bed," Light yelled back.

There was no reply, and Light made a point to close the bedroom door just a little harder than normal.

Light yawned. It was like being face to face with his bed had only reminded him of how tired he was. He quickly changed into pyjamas, removed his watch and set it on the nightstand, before heading to the shared en suite bathroom to brush his teeth.

Light took advantage of both the down time and the privacy to do a little thinking. He glanced over to his watch on the nightstand, as he brushed his teeth. That, or rather, the piece of death note contained within was his best thing he had going for him at the moment. He had debated getting rid of the death note scraps, due to L's increased suspicions, but he couldn't bring himself too. It was incriminating as hell, and should L ever decided to investigate the timepiece, Light was done, but until that time, it was Light's biggest advantage.

Most of his potential plan hinged around the scraps of death note. He didn't have a solid plan just yet, just a few ideas that needed to be heavily expanded on, but between the lack of sleep and the heavy workload, Light hadn't managed to really sit down and plan. Plus being under L's constant gaze made him wary. Sometimes Light was almost convinced the man did in fact have the ability to read his mind. It was beyond uncanny. Light spat into the sink, turned the water off, and deposited his toothbrush in the designated cup on the counter. He headed back into the main bedroom. Light paused as he passed by the room lights before smiling to himself and flicking the switch. Ah sweet darkness, and no L to complain or pester him.

Light was just climbing in to bed when L finally opened the door. The look on his face was akin to a teenager being forced to go to bed early. He was frowning, holding his laptop tucked under his arm and there was a plate of various sweets in his other hand. His headphones pulled down around his neck

"Light you are supposed to be under surveillance at all times. I took the handcuffs off as a courtesy to you," L sounded like a parent chastising a misbehaving child.

"I told you I was going to bed," Light said as he slipped under the covers. "I am tired. Any normal person would be tired."

"Regardless, you need to stay where I can see you when it is just the two of us," L scolded. He walked over to his bed and tossed the laptop down on the unmade bed while gingerly setting the plate of sweets on the nightstand.

"You have cameras," Light pointed out. He wanted to end this argument as quickly as possible so he could get to sleep. Now that he was actually in his bed, it was like his sleepiness had increased tenfold.

"Not in here, out of respect for privacy. I explained that months ago," L was standing in the space between the two beds, glaring down at Light.

Light couldn't repress a snort at that, "Respect for privacy… that is certainly something you don't have. Look," Light said, "we obviously have very different sleeping patterns, and since you are suddenly way less accommodating than you have been the past three months, for some reason, just go ahead and put cameras in here." Light wasn't self-conscious, and if it meant he could get some nice, L-free sleep, he was all for sacrificing the illusion of privacy.

L's scowl softened. "That is agreeable. I will have Watari install them first thing tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Ryuzaki," Light replied and rolled over, pulling the cover up over his head as he did. Ah sleep. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of nothing.

A few moments later the lights in the room snapped on, jolting Light back to reality. He hadn't quite been asleep, but still close enough to be highly annoyed.

"Why did you turn the lights on?" he asked, still buried under the blankets.

"I work better with them on," Light heard L explain.

"Last night you… no, you know what, never mind. It's fine," Light said, and closed his eyes once more. He could sleep with the lights on. At this point he was convinced he could sleep on a bed of lava, he was so tired.

Light had just managed to drift off when he was woken up by the sounds of conversation. He screwed his eyes tighter, as though that would somehow block out the noise. He didn't even attempt to figure out the source of the noise- he didn't care. Light had just about managed to ignore the noises when they suddenly increased in volume. The voices were as clear as someone leaning over and speaking right in his ear.

He rolled over to face L's bed and pulled his cover from over his head. Sure enough L was perched in his usual position against the headboard, with his laptop balancing on his bony knees. His headphones were discarded on the floor, and he was picking apart a pastry while his eyes were glued to the screen. He was still reviewing the tapes.

"Ryuzaki," Light called, sleepily. The man stabbed at the keyboard before turning to face Light.

"Yes?"

"Use your headphones, please," Light said.

"They reduce my abilities by nearly 15%,"L replied simply, and turned his attention back to the screen. He was about to press something when Light spoke again.

"You wore them all day. Why are they suddenly a problem now?"

"I only agreed as a favour to your father, and thus I operated at an inhibited capacity all day. That is part of the reason I must continue my work this late into the night." L spoke like he was bored, barely glancing at Light. He paid more attention to the pastry he was eating.

"Well at least turn it down. It is too loud," Light snapped, before rolling back over. He hoped to god that was the end of the conversation.

There was a moment of quiet before the noise resumed. Just as loud as before, and then Light heard the sound of the volume being lowered approximately one notch. Light let out an angry sigh. L really was behaving like a teenager. Light tried very hard to go back to sleep. He did everything he could think of to block out the noise, but it was just too loud. After several minutes of tossing and turning, Light sat up in his bed. The sudden movement caught L's attention. The detective paused the video and looked over at the exhausted teen.

"Are you having trouble sleeping again?" L asked. Light wasn't sure if he imagined it, but he swore he saw a smile tugging at the corner of L's lips.

Light didn't reply but abruptly stood up, gathered up his blanket and pillow and headed towards the door.

"What are you doing?" L questioned.

"Going to sleep out on the task force couch." Light didn't bother turning around.

"You need to stay where I can see you."

"There are cameras out there. I know there are."

"Yes, but reviewing those tapes will take valuable time and resources away from the actual case. No, it is better that you stay in here."

Light was now standing at the door. He turned, fuming, to face L.

"You won't let me sleep in here, so I am going out there to try and get a least a few hours of undisturbed sleep," Light's voice was low and dark.

"I will handcuff you again," L replied, mildly.

"You do that and I'll smash that laptop," Light countered, not fully caring what that threat did to L's made up 'Light is Kira' percentage.

One of L's thin eyebrows rose at the statement. "You keep making violent threats like that and I will have to restrain you, Light."

Light glared at the detective, who seemed completely unimpressed by Light's menacing gaze. Light was seriously considering testing the truth of L's threat, but Light had a strong feeling that the man was in no way bluffing about restrains. Finally, Light conceded his defeat and walked back over to his bed. He tossed the bedding down before turning and heading back towards the door.

"Light, I am serious. You need to stay in here." L warned.

"Relax, I am just going to get my own laptop so I can work. Since you won't let me sleep I might as well be productive," Light said, heading out the door. As soon as he was out of ear shot of L, Light let a string of curses out that he had been holding back since the day began.

A few minutes later, Light was sitting in his own bed, laptop open, once again digging into boring financial files. Light caught himself drifting off every now and then, and every time he nodded off he was sure L raised the volume of his own laptop, just to wake him up.

Light thought he had been tired the day before, but that was nothing compared to how he felt after the second consecutive night with little to no sleep. He had spent the majority of the night working and dozing lightly at his laptop. L had not slept at all, yet the detective still drug Light out of bed at six in the morning, so they could resume their work in the main office of the task force.

Right around the time the rest of the members of the task force were filing in to start the workday, Light got a sort of second wind. He had been up for several days before, and he was familiar with the rush that comes seemly out of nowhere after many hours of sleep deprivation. He used this to excuse himself from the computer and escape into the kitchen. L allowed this, thought signalled Mastuda to follow him.

Light immediately busied himself with make a pot of coffee. Normally he wasn't a fan of the beverage, but he had a sneaking suspicion that L was not going to allow him to nap today, and if he was going to be at least a semi functioning human being he was going to need a simulate. Soon the coffee pot was gurgling away. Light leaned against the counter and sighed.

"You okay there, Light?" Mastuda questioned.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just had a long night," Light replied.

"I know right! Ryuzaki is really being a bit of a slave driver. I don't think I got home until after ten yesterday!"

Mastuda's chipper tone somehow made Light feel worse than he already did. He glared at the man. "I didn't get to go home at all. I was up all night with Ryuzaki," Light snapped.

Mastuda recoiled at Light's words. "Oh, I mean, that sucks, I guess. What were you doing?"

"Working, what else?" Light answered. There was a strange blush on Mastuda's face.

"O-of course," Mastuda gave an awkward laugh.

The coffee pot gave its final gravelly cough that told Light the coffee was done. He pulled a mug down and paused for a second before grabbing a second.

"You want a cup, Mastuda?" he asked.

"Uh, sure, thanks Light," the man replied.

Light poured two mugs and handed one to Matsuda, before sitting down at the small table. Matsuda followed suite.

A few of Light's many possible plans included Mastuda. Not only because if one of the task force members was going to slip up it was Mastuda, but because in the past the man had expressed views sympathetic to both Light and, in a more mild way, Kira. Light wasn't about to announce he was Kira, or anything, but Mastuda was young and idealistic, not unlike himself, of course without the intelligence, and Light figured if he was going to be able to influence anyone to help him it was Matsuda.

Light took a small sip of the black coffee while studying the other man.

"I'm sorry I snapped, I am just really tired," Light said, setting down his mug.

"No, it's fine. Everyone is a little worn down, I think. This Kira case is exhausting," Matsuda said setting his own mug down.

"You have no idea," Light said with a drawn out sigh. "Ryuzaki was bad before Higuchi, but he is completely obsessive now. I haven't been able to sleep for the past two nights."

"Wow, I can't imagine not sleeping and still doing all this work," Mastuda's eyes were wide with shock and pity.

"And I just, I miss being a normal University student sometimes," Light said, sagging his shoulders. "I just want to be able to go to classes, see my girlfriend, you know, be normal for a bit. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful to be part of the task force, though I could do without the constant accusations of being a mass murder," Light let out a self-depreciating laugh, before looking up at Mastuda. The look that the man gave him told Light the junior detective had bought everything he had said, hook, line and sinker.

"Light," Matsuda said softly. "I forget sometimes how young you are."

"Me too," Light replied, with a sad smile.

"Maybe the members of the task force should talk to Ryuzaki about this, we could get him to lighten up," Mastuda suggested.

"I doubt that. No, don't worry about it. Soon enough I will be cleared of being Kira, then I can have my life back," Light said before taking another drink of his coffee.

"Yeah, the thirteen day rule test. You think it is real, then?" Mastuda asked.

"I really hope it is. If not, I have no idea how Ryuzaki is going to respond. He is convinced that the rule being false automatically means I am Kira." Light stared down at the table, shoulders hunched.

"Don't worry too much, if you are innocent, which I mean, I really think you are, you will be cleared no matter what Ryuzaki thinks!" Matsuda said in an upbeat voice that Light assumed was supposed to be reassuring. Light waited a moment before looking at Matsuda and giving him a small smile.

"Thanks, Matsuda, it is good to hear someone believe in me. I have been spending too much time around Ryuzaki."

Matsuda laughed. "No problem. And seriously, don't worry about it. You just need to hold out until the rule test is done!"

"You're right. I only hope Ryuzaki doesn't intend to keep me awake for the next ten days," Light replied with a laugh.

"Yeah, that would be horrible," Matsuda agreed.

Light took another sip of his coffee before standing up. "I better get back to work, it was nice talking, Matsuda."

"It was no problem, and uh, Light," Matsuda called as Light headed towards the door, "If you ever want to talk again… I am here."

Light paused and turned to face the junior detective, smiling. "Thanks."

As Light walked back to the main room of the task force headquarters he had to resist the urge to laugh. He might just get himself out of this predicament yet. Matsuda was the perfect pawn, and Light planned to use the idealistic detective for everything he was worth. Light must have shown at least some of his upbeat mood because L said something when Light sat back down at the computer and set his coffee down.

"You seem in a better mood," L said, looking at Light from the corner of his eye.

"Coffee can do a lot," Light replied, motioning to his mug.

L glanced down at the liquid in question. "Ew, black coffee. I don't know how people drink that."

"Not everyone wants diabetes with every sip of coffee, Ryuzaki," Light said, trying to sound annoyed, but his good mood wasn't easily hid. L didn't say anything more about his drink choices, or anything else, for that matter. Light and L both turned their attention to their respective computers and dove into their work.

Light was able to ride the rush of good mood and coffee until about mid-afternoon, when he suddenly felt like he ran face first into a brick wall. He kept nodding off at his computer, and keeping his eyes open was next to impossible. He stole a few glances at L, who seemed to be chugging along just fine. That man was definitely not human. There was just no way. Light glared and redoubled his efforts to stay awake. If L could do it, there was no reason why Light couldn't.

He managed about fifteen more minutes before he dozed off, this time, leaning on his propped up arm. He was woken up by the feeling of being pelted with something small and grainy. Light jumped in his chair, and turned to face L, who had quite clearly been flicking sugar cubes at him.

"Is that necessary?" He snapped.

"Twelve," the detective replied cryptically.

"What?"

"I was able to throw twelve sugar cubes at you before you woke up. You should be more aware of your surroundings Light. Besides, it is very unprofessional to sleep in your work space," L said. He dropped the cube he was holding into his teacup.

Light stared at the barefoot man, perched in a chair and surrounded by sweets before replying.

"I don't need a lecture in professionalism from you of all people."

L shrugged his shoulders. "Just a bit of advice."

Light rolled his eyes before getting up to get more coffee. The day wasn't even close to over yet.

The rest of the day was uneventfully. Light zoned out a few times, staring at the computer screen, but didn't manage any more naps. L dismissed the task force earlier than usual, around 7pm, and a mere three hours later he stood up and announced it was time for bed.

Light could have cried in joy. He played it cool though, and quietly closed what he was working on before following L down the hallway to the bedroom. Light was grateful to see L was not carrying his laptop, only a small teacup.

_Maybe tonight_, Light thought, _I can actually get some sleep_.


End file.
